2RDR Ep10 Legacy
by Lantana75
Summary: In his 90's and knowing that he will not live much longer, Jack makes a surprising decision.
1. Chapter 1

May 5, 1988

"Happy Birthday, Jack." Irene hugged her man tightly. "Ninety-four years and still counting."

"I finally feel it, Irene," Jack said. "Where have the years gone?" Jack was not as healthy as he wished he were. He had deteriorated until he now had to use a wheelchair to get around. Jack had been blessed in his old age in one way; he had lost very little hair. His long hair was now down loose, cascading past his shoulders. All his life, he had refused to cut it short.

"Straight to our memories," Irene replied. "We have had a wonderful life together, raised four great kids, spoiling eight grandkids, and now enjoying our twilight years together."

"So, I ended up having that normal life I never had as a kid," Jack surmised. "The world has changed. We went from horses to horsepower."

"That we did," Irene smiled. Irene leaned on her husband. She was so happy for the years they had enjoyed together. She was so thankful that her father had sent her on that errand. She visited his grave at Beecher's Hope every day to thank him.

"I have enjoyed our life together, baby," Jack said as he put his own arms around Irene. "I don't think I could have made it to this age without you. You brought me back to life."

"No, I just removed the life support," Irene replied.

Jack closed his eyes. Oh, the memories he and Irene had built together. Like Irene, he was so happy that Landon had sent her into his direction. He had loved Irene since the day she rode onto Beecher's Hope.

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	2. Chapter 2

Irene sat on the porch and enjoyed the warm weather. She moved the swing slightly as she recalled the years of love, joy, and happiness that she and Jack had shared over the years. She knew, of course, that there had been hard times. Their hardest times were when their baby daughter was kidnapped and their teenaged daughter was almost raped. They had also seen their two sons break the law once and make amends for their action. They never broke the law again and were now each married.

Landon had twin girls. Johnny had a son, John David Marston IV, who was now four years old. He was already being called "Little Jack" and was the spitting image of Johnny, who looked a lot like Jack.

The couple had taught their children well, despite what the kids knew about their outlaw ancestors.

Inside the house, Jack was thinking of the same things. He walked to the bedroom, the one that had once been his own parents' bedroom, and opened the dresser. He took a lockbox from the bottom drawer and unlocked it. Inside was the Schofield Revolver that Irene had brought to him many years ago. It was still shiny and looked new. He had taken great care of it. The JM on it was clear as day.

Jack held onto the gun and closed his eyes.

In his mind, Jack could see the young Irene riding her horse at a walk onto his land. He was concerned, at first. Of course, given who his father was, that was not abnormal. He then smiled as he remembered her big smile when she placed the gun into his hands.

"Thank you, Landon Ricketts, for sending Irene to me," Jack said, as if Landon could hear him, wherever he was.

Irene did believe in Heaven. She had said so many times. She believed that John, Abigail, Helen, and Landon were all there and awaiting them.

Jack hoped that she was right.

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	3. Chapter 3

Irene woke up one morning to an awful sound; Jack was struggling to breathe. She jumped up and shook him.

"Jack?," Irene cried, terrified. "Jack?" Irene gasped and called for an ambulance.

In the hospital, the family waited anxiously for any news on Jack.

"Marston family?," a doctor asked as he walked out to greet everyone.

"How is my father?," Angela asked.

"Not good," the doctor said. "I don't think he is going to live much longer. We have done all we can and he is very old. I really am so sorry."

Irene cried on her oldest daughter.

"Go see him, Mom," Angela said. "He needs you."

In Jack's room, he was on oxygen and looked so pale. Irene sat on the bed and touched him.

"Irene, I wanna go home," Jack said, weakly. "I don't wanna die here. I wanna be at home."

"Oh, Jack," Irene whispered.

"It's my time, baby," Jack said. "I really hate to leave you."

"Don't worry about me, Jack," Irene said. "I'll be along soon."

Irene laid forward onto Jack's chest. After they held for a moment, she went to the nurse's desk.

"Who do I see about having Jack Marston released from here?," Irene asked.

The nurses were shocked.

"Mrs. Marston, do you know how sick Jack is?," one nurse asked.

"Yes, I do," Irene said. "And so does Jack."

Jack listened to the conversation as he stared out the window.

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	4. Chapter 4

Jack lay in his bed at home, propped some upright by pillows. He was so weak, he could barely even feed himself anymore. Irene was there by his side all the time, feeding him and caring for him. A stay-at-home nurse was also now living in the house.

One morning, Jack asked Irene to call their family attorney and for a federal agent.

"Why?," Irene asked, very confused.

"Irene, there's something that I need to do," Jack said. "Please do this. It is very important."

Two hours later; Irene, the family attorney, and a federal agent were at the bedside."

"Agent Callahan, my client wishes to make a confession in a cold case from years ago," the attorney said. "His doctors have ordered him to stay in bed, which is why we asked you here. He does not have much longer to live and wishes to do this before he does pass on."

Callahan nodded.

"Go on, Jack," Irene said.

Jack took a deep breath.

"I, John David Marston Junior, wish to confess," Jack said. "In nineteen-fourteen, I killed Edgar Ross near the San Luis River on the Mexican side of the border. I did it because I believed that his death, especially at my own hands, would relieve my pain and make me happy. However, it only worsened my pain a little. I knew that my father would never have wanted that for me. He wanted me to live a good life. This has eaten away at me since that very day. I wish I could take it back, but I cannot. I am making this confession of my own volition. I am not being coerced or threatened in any way. This is the truth; so help me, God."

Callahan stood there. He looked at Irene and the attorney. "We need to record this on video," he said. "It will have to go into the file."

"Of course," the attorney said.

In the living room, the attorney told Callahan, "Do it today. Doctors don't expect him to live out the week."

That evening, the confession was officially recorded and filed.

Once they were alone again, Irene asked Jack why he had chosen to confess after all these years.

"It's like I said, I thought it would ease my pain to kill him," Jack explained. "But it did not. I could almost hear my father screaming at me to stop. It was as if he screamed in my ear every day asking what the hell had I done."

"Jack, it's common for people to feel that," Irene said. "You were angry, depressed, and confused. You thought the only way to ease your pain was to eliminate the source of your pain. That was Edgar Ross, who you blamed for John's death. This is what any psychiatrist would say about you."

Jack smiled. "You read too many of those books," he said.

"I wanted to understand you better," Irene said. "I always loved you, Jack, from the moment I saw you look at me."

Jack stroked Irene's hair. "I love you, Irene," he said. "I love you more than anything at all."

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	5. Chapter 5

Irene woke up on the sofa, realizing she had fallen asleep with the television on. It was Saturday morning and a children's TV show was on. "Hello, boys and girls," the character on television was saying. Irene turned off the TV and went to the bedroom.

Jack was in an awkward position and not moving at all.

"Jack?," Irene asked. Her heart pounding, she touched him. She placed her hand under his nose. After a moment, she dropped her head and started to cry. She straightened Jack's position and took his left hand in both of her hands. Tears ran down her face.

Jack Marston was gone. He was gone.

Irene kissed Jack's face. "Go see your father, Jack," she whispered. "He'll be so proud of you."

Irene sat by the bed and cried as she held onto Jack's hand and rubbed her finger on his wedding ring.

Irene Roxanne Ricketts-Marston died of natural causes, also in her sleep in her own bed at Beecher's Hope, at the age of 97 in May of 1993.

Beecher's Hope was declared a Historic Landmark in 1998 and preserved by the Heritage Foundation. Jack and Irene are buried on the land; near the graves of John, Abigail, Landon, Charlotte, and Uncle. The farm has since become a popular tourist attraction; even more popular than Graceland.

The Marston Family continue to carry on their legacy. The legends of John Marston, Jack Marston, Landon Ricketts, and Irene Ricketts-Marston will never die.

They will live on and on and on.

END

Author's Notes:

I am not completely finished with RDR. More coming!

The psychiatry that I put here (about eliminating the source of one's pain) is true. According to FBI Profiler Candice DeLong, a person suffering from depression and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder will often believe that eliminating their pain source will eliminate their pain. For Jack, that was Edgar Ross. This is a major reason behind murders in which a person is found "not guilty by reason of extreme emotional distress," which I believe Jack would be if he were real and all this game's story was true. These murders do not actually succeed for the person. For any of these conditions, only the right therapy will ease the pain completely. Love and support from family and loved ones is also a very big help!

Events of the 1980's

Ronald Reagan was elected U.S. President in 1980.

In international affairs, Reagan pursued a hardline policy towards preventing the spread of communism, initiating a considerable buildup of U.S. military power to challenge the Soviet Union. He further directly challenges the Iron Curtain by demanding that the Soviet Union dismantle the Berlin Wall.

The Reagan Administration accelerated the War on Drugs, publicized through anti-drug campaigns including the Just Say No campaign of First Lady Nancy Reagan. Drugs became a serious problem in the 1980's.

The eruption of Mount St. Helens Washington, on May 18, 1980, killed 57 people.

The US Drought of 1988 destroyed the US with many parts of the country affected. This was the worst drought to hit the United States in many years. The drought caused $60 billion in damage (between $80 billion and $120 billion for 2008 USD). The concurrent heat waves killed 5,800 to 17,000 people in the United States.

Hurricane Allen (1980), Hurricane Alicia (1983), Hurricane Gilbert (1988), Hurricane Joan (1988), and Hurricane Hugo (1989) were some notably destructive Atlantic hurricanes of the 1980's.

The space shuttle Challenger disintegrates on January 28, 1986.

On August 2, 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191 crashed on approach to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas. 137 people were killed while 27 survived.

On December 7, 1987, 43 people were killed when an irate former USAir employee went on a rampage aboard PSA Flight 1771.

On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound spilling an estimated equivalent of 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. Although not among the largest oil spills in history, its remote and sensitive location made it one of the most devastating ecological disasters ever. The after effects of the spill continue to be felt to this day.

On July 19, 1989, United Airlines Flight 232, carrying 296 people, suffered an in-flight engine failure and was forced to crash-land at Sioux City, Iowa. 185 survived, while 111 were killed when the plane burst into flames upon touchdown.

Musician and former member of The Beatles John Lennon was murdered in New York City on December 8, 1980.

Ronald Reagan was shot in Washington, D.C. on March 30, 1981, by John Hinckley Jr, a mentally disturbed man who also stalked actress Jodie Foster. Reagan's press secretary James Brady was also shot, along with a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent. The latter two recovered, along with Reagan himself, but Brady used a wheelchair as a result of brain damage thereafter and would become an advocate of gun control.

In July of 1981, six-year-old Adam Walsh vanished from a Sears department store in Hollywood, Florida. With very little media coverage and no immediate action by police, the boy was not found in time. His decapitated head was eventually found. The body has still not been found to this day. Adam's father, John Walsh, assisted in the creation of The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and became an advocate for victims' rights. He later hosted the TV series "America's Most Wanted," a nationally televised show that featured wanted criminals from all over the United States. Over 500 fugitives were recovered and arrested largely due to the show's viewers. Today, missing children are immediately televised locally with hopes that he/she will be found before they are abused and/or killed. This later led to the creation of the AMBER Alert system.

In 1988, Jaclyn Marie Dawaliby was abducted from her home by her mentally ill uncle and found murdered five days later. The autopsy revealed she had been killed the night of her abduction. Corrupt court officers and police officials quickly named the father as the murderer. He remained in prison on the false charges until two journalists helping the parents were able to get a confession from the uncle. The court officers and police officials were relieved of their jobs and very little is known of what happened to them next. There have never been charges filed on the death of the girl.

American singer-songwriter and musician Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father at his home in Los Angeles on April 1, 1984.

Arcade games and video games had been growing in popularity since the late 1970's, and by 1982 were a major industry. But a variety of factors, including a glut of low-quality games and the rise of home computers, caused a tremendous crash in late 1983. For the next three years, the video game market practically ceased to exist in the US. But in the second half of the decade, it would be revived by Nintendo, whose Famicom console had been enjoying considerable success in Japan since 1983. Renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System, it would claim 90% of the American video game market by 1989. (Nintendo is roughly translated to mean "leave luck to Heaven")

Personal computers experienced explosive growth in the 1980's, going from being a toy for electronics hobbyists to a full-fledged industry.

Walkman and Boomboxes, introduced during the late 1970's, became very popular and had a profound impact on the Music industry and youth culture.

Consumer VCRs and video rental stores became commonplace.

In rock music, the "hair band" became popular; all-male music bands in which all the members wore long hair. Some popular hair bands were Poison, White Lion, Whitesnake, Europe, and Bon Jovi.

Beginning of the AIDS epidemic.

National safety campaigns raised awareness of seat belt usage to save lives in car accidents, helping to make the measure mandatory in most parts of the world by 1990. Similar efforts arose to push child safety seats and bicycle helmet use, already mandatory in a number of regions. The most popular were a series of TV ads featuring two actors dressed as crash-test dummies. Country music artist Barbra Mandrell was involved in a car accident and received only a broken leg.

Rejection of smoking based on health concerns increased throughout the Western world.

The role of women in the workplace increased greatly.

A joint American-French expedition discovers the wreck of the RMS Titanic on September 1, 1985 at a depth of 2.5 miles (4 km), located about 370 miles south-southeast of the coast of Newfoundland.

In the United States, MTV was launched and music videos began to have a larger effect on the record industry. Pop artists such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Duran Duran, Prince, Madonna, and Queen mastered the format and helped turn this new product into a profitable business.

Michael Jackson was the definitive icon of the 1980's and his leather jacket, glove, and Moonwalk dance were often imitated. Jackson's 1982 album Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time, with sales estimated by various sources as somewhere between 65 and 110 million copies worldwide.

Some of the most popular TV series which premiered during the 1980's or carried over from the 1970's include: Alf, Airwolf, The A-Team, Dynasty, Dallas, Knight Rider, MacGyver, Magnum, P.I., Miami Vice, Diff'rent Strokes, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life, The Cosby Show, Murder She Wrote, 21 Jump Street, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Night Court, Who's the Boss?, Family Matters, Quantum Leap, Saved by the Bell, Roseanne, Full House, The Golden Girls, Three's Company, Cheers, Growing Pains, Family Ties, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, and Married with Children.

The 1980's was the decade of transformation in television. Cable television became more accessible and therefore, more popular. By the middle of the decade, almost 70% of the American population had cable television and over 85% were paying for cable services such as HBO or Showtime.

The 1980's was also the heyday of nighttime soap operas such as Dallas and Dynasty.

The 1980's also was prominent for spawning several popular children's cartoons such as The Smurfs, ThunderCats, Voltron, The Transformers, Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Inspector Gadget, Muppet Babies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Duck Tales, Garfield and Friends, and Beetlejuice.

Popular video games include: Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, Frogger, Digger, Tetris, and Golden Axe. Pac-Man (1980) was the first game to achieve widespread popularity in mainstream culture and the first game character to be popular in his own right.

During the 1980's, there were many toys that became very popular among children that are to this day still associated with the decade. Some of the toys that were popular were Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, Star Wars, Cabbage Patch Kids, Masters of the Universe, Rainbow Brite, Micro Machines, Pound Puppies, Teddy Ruxpin, Strawberry Shortcake, and Care Bears.

Significant clothing trends of the 1980's include Shoulder pads, Jean jackets, Leather pants, Aviator jackets, Jumpsuits, Wrap-Around dresses, Members Only Jackets, Skin-tight acid-washed jeans, stone-washed jeans, Miniskirts, Leggings, and Leg warmers, Off-the-Shoulder Shirts and Cut Sweatshirts (popularized in the film "Flashdance"). The mullet became a popular hairstyle for men (long hair in back and cut short in front, usually with bangs). For women, crimping hairstyle became popular (zig-zag pattern through long hair).

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